


I'm not cold this winter

by Gilven



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cuddling & Snuggling, Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes Feels, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Husbands, M/M, Married Daryl Dixon/Rick Grimes, Prison (Walking Dead), RWG Secret Santa 2018, Rickyl, prison era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 03:12:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilven/pseuds/Gilven
Summary: It was a very simple thing to do - plunging into everyday life with Daryl Dixon.





	I'm not cold this winter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [April_Valentine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/April_Valentine/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [Мне не холодно этой зимой](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18601366) by [Gilven](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gilven/pseuds/Gilven)



> I'm super nervous, but I hope you'll like it! Happy holidays!  
> And a HUGE Thank you to my lovely beta HogwartsToAlexandria! ~<3 You're a lifesaver!

The silence in the prison building was not the same as the one that now reigned in most of houses, inhabited until just recently, but not anymore. This silence trembled with the breath of dozens of people: those quietly sleeping and those, who guarded their sleep, sat in the towers outside and checked the perimeter and dimly lit corridors. It crackled with flames of lonely candles and barely audible buzzing of lamps, sparingly fueled by the generator. And no matter how hard Rick tried to go quietly, stepping on his toes, the sound of his footsteps was also woven into this night symphony, harmoniously and naturally, like a middle-range voice.

The path to the showers looked even worse at this point in the night than the hospital corridor along which Rick had wandered what seemed like a lifetime ago but couldn’t have been more than a few months, it was hard to tell, too much had changed in the blink of an eye, beginning with Rick himself; back then, Rick had felt frightened and disoriented, trying to understand what was happening around him. There wasn't any trace left of this trembling scared man now. He could allow himself to walk inside these walls as their rightful owner, even if danger had yet to be completely driven out of the prison. 

If he hadn’t died back when he was a grieving mess of a man, lurking in the dead-infested corridors, if fate had guarded him - a blind idiot - then, he had absolutely no right to die foolishly now. 

Their group, their family had fought their way to these showers with pipes full of water, hot and clean, like a heavenly spring in the desert with their own blood and sweat, with their bare hands as weapons. 

Who would have thought back in the old world that a day would come when a common prison shower would become a symbol of comfort.

Every day after long hours of work, the showers allowed them to come back to life new and fresh now and for a few minutes only, forget the reality of the world they lived in. They allowed everyone to separate themselves from the constant tension caused by  the relentless proximity of the dead , and from the anxiety they felt regarding the upcoming winter. It was nearly here already, and they did everything in their power to be prepared. 

Rick was so tired that he would have gladly missed even those blessed minutes under the hot water to go to bed immediately, but Daryl would not let him anywhere close to their cell without him cleaning up first. Nowhere close to the bed, nor to Judith, nor to the hunter himself. 

Since the baby girl's birth, the protective instincts of their caring hunter had become stronger than ever, and Rick was only happy to obey them.

Daryl… Rick still remembered the cautious uncertainty with which they had all entered this particular cell-block for the first time: a bunch of ordinary people, grown accustomed to the hardships, the domestic ones as much as the ones that came with living in this world,that had befallen them in the past tough months. 

Eating dog food for dinner didn’t appal them anymore and yet, living in prison cells still seemed like something wild to them. Even Daryl - for the first time in Rick's memory - allowed himself to show disgust. But really, Daryl wishing to arrange his bed at the best watch point of the room - as any good sentinel guarding the camp would have done - was not the worst whim in the world.

But over time Daryl got used to this place. Or maybe he didn’t, but the increasing number of people living in the prison played its role in pushing him to change his mind. In the limited space they had, even the addition of two more people felt like they were bringing in a crowd. In their case, it was two people  _ and _ a baby. A mysterious woman carrying katanas around and a man. Not just any man either, Merle Dixon.

Anyway, with the older Dixon back in the picture, Daryl finally chose a cell for himself — the one that Rick had left open for him in secret hope, the one right next to his own. But Daryl did not stay there long. 

The room didn't have a chance to acquire a habitable appearance - the earth on Merle’s grave still fresh, Daryl showed up on the threshold of Rick’s cell, the entirety of his scarce possessions held in his arms. 

With his usual shy little head tilt he said that it wouldn’t hurt if Lil’ Asskicker had her own room. He said they could make a real nursery, that surely the women of the group would know about everything the baby needed and could write down a list of necessities that he’d go scavenge for later.  Unless, of course, Rick minded. 

Rick saw through him and, honestly, there was nothing strange in the fact that Grimes understood where Daryl was going with this: his words, so full of vulnerable wariness, wasn’t only about Judith having her own room. This was how they had always communicated - never really needing to break the silence with words, as if their whole beings talked to one another through looks only. 

So Rick just asked Daryl to look out for a good double mattress as well.

It was a very simple thing to do - plunging into everyday life with Daryl Dixon. A thick curtain appeared on the door along with their new mattress, and they planned to replace the several small storage boxes they had in the cell with something more permanent in the future. Someday. And that was quite enough for the two of them to get comfortable. 

The only thing that Daryl could theoretically call an excessive luxury was the incredible amount of fabric covering the bare walls of the cell in a thick wallpaper-like layer. But he wouldn’t call it that, for he’d been the one to suggest it in the first place. For Judith’s sake. 

All the cells the baby happened to spend even the shortest amount of time during the day  saw their walls warmed up using the same technique as fast as they could manage. As for the arrangement of the nursery itself, the hunter dove into it head-first with frantic determination. The same one that Rick had, spending hours on their makeshift farm. Daryl explained that winter was almost at their doors, and the room  had to be be ready by the time the first cold nights arrived.

If any furniture necessary to Judith’s comfort, turned out to be impossible to find during his runs, Daryl simply took his carpentry tools in hands. That is how Judith soon came to be the proud owner of the best-equipped and most comfortable room of the prison. She even had a pale-green changing because Daryl was absolutely convinced that she wouldn't approve of a pink one. 

During all these preparations Carl got so impressed by Daryl's skills that he began to beg the hunter to teach him too. And now the younger Grimes spent a lion's share of his day doing nothing but polishing the shelves he made for his own room. Considering that his level of enthusiasm strove from zero and below when it came to working with his father on the farm, Rick was very happy that his son showed ardent interest in something useful that had nothing to do with weapons or going outside the prison fences. After all, it was for this very reason that Rick had fought his way here: so that his children could live in relative safety.

Climbing up the metal stairs Rick tried not to make too much noise while still enabling the others to recognize the noises for what they were - his steps. For life had taught them to immediately respond to any incomprehensible rustling, while the confident steps of a living person was much less likely to wake up the whole group.

The door to his cell was open just enough for Rick to be able to easily slip inside without further disturbing anyone by moving the squeaky hinges of it. The damn things still refused to shut down completely, even after all the greasing they’d done. 

He thought that Daryl was still awake what with the room being flooded with the warm light of a candle, set on a stool by their bedside but as it turned out, this candle, that did nothing for Daryl still wasn’t only meant for Rick’s return from his shift. 

Daryl was sleeping soundly. He was laying on his back a double-folded pillow under his head, the same pillow he claimed not to like because its  _ excessive softness _ .

The hand he normally used as a buffer between his head and the so-called softness was absent today. Both his hands were busy with a much more important task. Judith was snoring on Daryl's broad chest. She was laying comfortably on her stomach, dressed in her new pajamas and covered with a soft blue fleece blanket that the man had brought from his last run. 

With one hand Daryl held her legs while the other rested on her small back - protecting the child from all the dangers of the world at once, even in sleep. 

Rick paused at the entrance, enchanted by the sight, hoping it would burn itself into his memory and, more than ever, regretting that there was no camera at hand. And even if there was one, its noise and flash would probably not only destroy the magic of the moment, but also wake his man and daughter up. Hence, Rick simply watched and tried to blink as little as possible until a grainy white spot appeared on his vision courtesy of the dim candlelight. Only then did Rick finally take the first quiet steps further into the room, removing his shirt and unbuttoning his belt simultaneously. His body was literally buzzing with fatigue and anticipation at the idea of getting into the soft, warm bed.

“I’ll bring ya a fuckin’ bathrobe next time,”, surprisingly, the sound of Daryl's sleepy, deep voice didn't startle him in the silence of the cell, like thunder in a cloudless sky might. Perhaps because Rick had already heard how the hunter's breath had changed, and some part of him knew that he was awake. The softness and light amusement in his tone warmed Rick's heart. 

He quickly put on a T-shirt and, with a fond smile, he turned to the bed, his loving glance caressing Daryl's relaxed face. The corners of the other man's lips threatened to rise up in a contented smile. And that view was definitely as breathtaking as the previous sight that had greeted Rick had he entered the room. Geez, how long had it been since he last felt this all-encompassing sense of contentment, he wondered, this feeling one experiences knowing that their family is well-fed and safe. How he’d missed it, he thought, how eager he was to feel it again.

“What's the point of takin' a shower, if ya still puttin' yer sweaty rags back on right after?” 

Daryl shifted carefully, trying not to disturb the child still sleeping on his chest. He raised himself on his elbow, puffing softly, and Rick hurried over to take Judith into his arms. Daryl narrowed one eye and seemed to sniff him suspiciously before handing the baby over. Both of them barely held back their laughs, busying themselves getting ready to sleep instead: Daryl moved closer to the edge of the mattress along with the pillow and put a small blanket rolled into a neat little tube to form a soft border along the edge of their bed. Rick gently lowered Judith onto the bed and covered her with the fleece blanket, kissing the soft golden hairs at the crown of her head.

“My Lil’ Asskicker was a lil’ moody today, had ta take her ta the adult bed,” Daryl muttered softly, already laying on his side, facing Judith. He got settled propping up his head with his hand, unobtrusively watching Rick taking care of their daughter.

“Looks like she decided that this mattress is too luxurious for just the two of us,” Rick grinned, finally finished with admiring the sleeping girl. Daryl was obviously eager for Grimes to join him under the warm blanket and get back to sleep. A sleep that would truly be restful now that Rick was back.

Rick didn't keep him waiting any longer and, as quickly as possible, climbed onto the bed so as to not let the cold air of the cell crawl under the blanket. He immediately slid his hand up to Daryl's waist and pulled him closer, enjoying his indescribable, freshly-showered clean smell and the heat of his body as it had just emerged from slumber. With a satisfied sigh, Dixon relaxed under his hands, leaning a little closer to Rick's chest, and muttered, “G’nite,”

“‘Nite”, Rick hugged him tight, ever so lightly running his fingers along the younger man's sides and a little bit down his back, wanting to bring pleasure to his partner without arousing him.

Rick had had the incredibly pleasant surprise to discover that Daryl’s skin was very sensitive and that he always enjoyed each gentle touch on his body. And now Rick could feel the slight trembling of the muscles under the strokes of his roughened fingers, feel how the other man's quivering breathing turned into the low sounds of unrestrained pleasure somewhere in the depths of his throat. Pleased, Rick chuckled softly, tickling the tender skin behind Daryl's ear with warm breath making him shiver abruptly and shrug his broad shoulders. It was clear that he was satisfied with Rick's ministrations. After that they pressed even closer to each other, exchanging body heat, shifting faintly, looking for the most comfortable position and awakening new hot sparks between their bodies in the process.

Rick’s fingers still tingled pleasantly after the impromptu massage, and he was already slipping into sleep when he heard Daryl's barely intelligible muttering,“I’ll find you a bathrobe next time anyway."

Rick couldn't bring himself to open his eyes again, but he could not hold back the happy smile that formed on his lips either.


End file.
